i am 54 and ride really hard on the weekends. come monday i am not worth 50 cents. i am allergic to our lake water but besides that i am really washed out and lethargic on mondays. it has nothing to do with my life-style. i do not drink or stay up late. wakeboarding just takes it out of me unlike anything else i have ever done (and i have always been highly active). does anyone else experience this phenomenon? what do you do to counter it? is there any special diet that will replenish my energy? i eat very healthily and try to stay hydrated. thanks for any input.

if you can ride more during the week then you will be less sore come monday after a hard weekend. even if its just one day. your body probably takes all week to recover only to be beat to hell again come saturday.

thanks, i would ride every day if i could. as a matter of fact it is only when i am riding that i don't feel tired or beat. it is when i stop riding that i feel washed out. it isn't the physical whipping i take but rather it is in my head. i get sleepy and have zero energy and enthusiasm for the things that i need to get done. i play volleyball at the ymca on monday and i am never any good on monday. i was just wondering if it is me pushing too hard for my age or if wakeboarding aggressively takes it out of most riders. thanks for responding.

Star Star, I feel your pain... I go hard on the weekends and cannot get out on weekdays as I don't have any lakes or rivers close by.

I have a routine now to re-hydrate of just pounding water Sunday evenings, leave a tall glass next to bed, and pound a couple more Monday morning. I've found it helps a ton to just hydrate the crap out of your muscles... downside is you have to stay within about 100 feet of a bathroom at all times.

I have hockey on Monday nights, and is very difficult following the weekends I wakeboard. I only get to ride every other weekend at most, so I'm hurting all over come Monday. I actually feel better after the game though, since all my sore muscles tend to loosen up. BTW, i'm 30. I just pray i'm still riding at 54.

I agree with the above comments, the only solution I seem to know of is more riding. I can be in the best shape of my life(non wakeboarding), get behind the boat, and still hurt for the next 3 days.

I'm behind you by a couple of years (yeah 2) and I noted this year that is takes me 3-4 days to work out the bruises, stains, etc. Not riding during the week much, but when I did I didnt have these issues. I'd say the rehydration is important, also. I do have to say, I'm still progressing...learned the crow this year, and gonna get that TS BR next (4th invert)

At 53 i have the same problems and solved most of it by working out (at keeping the gut down!) on my Bowflex 4-5 days a week and taking vitamin suppliments. The problem is your metabolism is slowing and your muscles are diminishing (no bull!) and it just plain takes more work to keep up is all. I had the same problem hit me at 51, went from 180lbs to to 210 in six months! No habits changed at all, just the metab slowing and such.

The truth is we just gotta work harder to keep up with the young guys! I have four grandsons and they work me to death it feels like!

i eat something every couple of hours and get relly good sleep.....no alcohol...little coffee.at the higher ages your room for error is low....you have to do everything just right.

ride jump and everything but let the water move you you dont have to lean like crazy to get out to the side and or pull like a maniac. you can do all the same stuff just ride mellower, it wont take so much out of you.

You ride harder than I do but I don't think you are pushing it too hard. Sounds to me like you still got plenty of that old "Swagger" left!

I ride with 7 or so twenty and thirty year olds and I ride harder and longer than any of them, but I have a regimented work out routine and they don't. They are not actually in great shape they are just mostly young. I am more careful about what I eat and don't eat and it sounds like you do too.

I was feeling a little washed out a few years back, saw the Doc, told him the deal, he hooked me up with some good B-12, Multi Vs and some stretching exercises,.. and basically told me the same thing that Razzman said, that was the ticket for me.

Again, "Word" to what Razz the Man said. I believe it to be the gospel truth.

We can still roll after 50 but we have to do it a little smarter not harder, you know what to do.

I found that for me, going through a good stretch out before and after I ride also helped a little all the way around. At our age I think we need to warm it up good before and after we do some serious cooking but once warmed up we are as good to go as anybody.

The younger riders should actually do some of the same things but because of their "immortal youth" they just don't feel it yet,... but they will. The better they take care of themselves now the longer and better they can ride later.